Assets are persons or things that can produce value. People can be assets because of the value they bring to a relationship or organization. Things which are assets have value for the owner because they can be converted into cash. Cash on hand is also considered an asset.
Tangible Assets
Tangible assets are those that can be touched. Examples include:
- Buildings
- Cash on deposit
- Cash on hand
- Certificates of deposit or CDs
- Commercial paper
- Corporate bonds
- Corporate stock
- Debentures held
- Equipment
- Federal agency securities
- Federal treasury notes
- Guaranteed investment accounts
- Inventory
- Land
- Loans to members of insurance trusts systems
- Loans receivables
- Marketable equity securities
- Marketable securities
- Money market funds
- Mortgages (receivable) held directly
- Mutual funds
- Notes receivables
- Repurchase agreements
- “Restricted” cash and investments
- Savings accounts
- Share of funds in governmental investment accounts or pools
- State and local government securities
- Time deposits
- Warrants (to purchase securities)
Intangible Assets
Intangible assets are non-physical, meaning they cannot be touched. They have value because they represent an advantage to a business or organization.
Examples include:
- Accounts receivable
- Blueprints
- Bonds
- Brand names
- Brand recognition
- Broadcast licenses
- Buy-sell agreements
- Chemical formulas
- Computer programs
- Computerized databases
- Contracts
- Cooperative agreements
- Copyrights
- Customer relationships
- Designs & drawings
- Distribution rights
- Development rights
- Distribution networks
- Domain names
- Drilling rights
- Easements
- Engineering drawings
- Environmental rights
- FCC licenses
- Film libraries
- Food flavorings & recipes
- Franchise agreements
- Goodwill
- Historical documents
- Joint ventures
- Laboratory notebooks
- Landing rights
- Licenses
- Loan portfolios
- Location value
- Management contracts
- Manual databases
- Manuscripts
- Medical charts and records
- Methodologies
- Mineral rights
- Musical compositions
- Natural resources
- Patents
- Permits
- Procedural manuals
- Product designs
- Property use rights
- Proprietary technology
- Royalty agreements
- Schematics & diagrams
- Securities portfolios
- Security interests
- Shareholder agreements
- Solicitation rights
- Supplier contracts
- Technology sharing agreements
- Title plants
- Trademarks
- Trade secrets
- Trained & assembled workforce
- Training manuals
- Use rights – air, water, land
Personal Assets
Personal assets might be tangible or intangible. They can be assets owned by the person or assets related to the person’s personal characteristics.
Examples of owned personal assets include:
- Artwork
- Automobile
- Checking account
- Collectibles Electronics Insurance
- Jewelry
- Investment accounts
- Retirement account
- Savings account
Examples of personal characteristic assets include:
- Great smile
- Ability to get along with many different personalities
- Positive attitude
- Sense of humor
- Great communicator
- Excellent public speaker
Corporate Assets
Corporations have long lists of assets including companies and brand names which are owned by the corporation.
Here are some examples of the assets of Disney:
- ABC Entertainment Group Animation
- Disney–ABC Television Group Disney Channels Worldwide Disney Consumer Products Disney Cruise Line
- Disney Interactive Studios Disney Music Group
- Disney Online
- Disney Publishing Worldwide
- Disney Theatrical Group
- Disney Vacation Club
- Disneyland Paris
- Disneyland Resort
- ESPN, Inc.
- Hong Kong International Theme Parks Lucasfilm
- Marvel Entertainment
- Walt Disney World Resort
Here are some examples of the assets of PepsiCo:
- Aquafina
- Aunt Jemima Mixes & Syrups
- Baked! Cheetos Snacks
- Baked! Doritos Tortilla Chips
- Baked! Lay’s Potato Crisps
- Baked! Ruffles Potato Chips
- Baked! Tostitos Tortilla Chips
- Cap’n Crunch Cereal
- Chester’s Popcorn
- Cracker Jack Candy Coated Popcorn
- Doritos Tortilla Chips
- Frito-Lay Nuts & Seeds
- Fritos Corn Chips
- Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings
- Gatorade G Series
- Prime 01
- Grandma’s Cookies
- Lay’s Potato Chips
- Lipton Brisk Sweet Tea
- Mountain Dew Livewire
- Pepsi
- Propel Zero
- Quaker Chewy Granola Bars
- Quaker Life Cereal
- Quaker Instant Oatmeal Rice-A-Roni Side Dishes
- Rockstar Energy
- Rold Gold Pretzels
- Ruffles Potato Chips
- Sabra Hummus
- Seattle’s Best Coffee
- SoBe Lifewater
- Starbucks Frappuccino
- SunChips Multigrain
- Snacks Tostito’s
- Tortilla Chips
Here are some examples of the assets of Time Warner:
- HBO
- Cartoon Network
- Cinemax
- CNNMoney.com
- CNN News Group
- Coastal Living
- Cooking Light
- DC Comics
- Entertainment Weekly
- Essence
- Fortune
- Golf (magazine)
- Health
- Mad Magazine
- People
- Southern Living
- Sports Illustrated
- Sunset
- TBS
- TNT
- TCM
Assets, whether they are business or personal assets, add value to a person or an organization.